Honesty
by featherkitten
Summary: Based off a conversation prompt from tumblr. Myka doesn't want to ruin their friendship by telling H.G. how she feels. Claire is trying to find her place in a new world.
1. Chapter 1

Pete and Myka were in Myka's room, Pete was sitting on her bed eating a burrito and Myka was pacing the floor.

"Your friendship can survive this little crush. You just need to let her down easy." Pete bit into a burrito. "Honestly is the best way to go."

"Don't talk with you're mouth full," Myka said. "It's disgusting." She started to pace. "How do I do that?"

"Sor _ry_!" Pete swallowed. "Be honest. Tell her how you feel."

"That won't work."

"Why not?"

"If I tell her how I feel she might get the impression that I want to get into a relationship."

"Why would she think that?"

"Because I'm…. In love with her."

"What?!"

"Just a little bit!" Myka threw her hands up over her mouth. "Do you think anyone heard that?"

"Reelax. Everyone's off doing something." Pete took a large bit of burrito and his next sentence was incomprehensible.

"Pete swallow first! Who raised you?" Myka took a deep breath. "Maybe it is just a crush and crushes fade."

"Mykes?"

"What?"

"Stop pacing, you're making me dizzy."

"Fine!" She went over to her bed and sat down. "Sorry."

"Don't worry about it. Hey maybe everything will work out. You are a gorgeous, intelligent and at times frightening woman and so is she."

"Thanks." She swung her legs. "I don't know what I'd do if this is something we couldn't come back from."

He put a hand on her shoulder. "If her trying to end the world didn't do that then what can?" She looked at him and he pointed at her. "You know I have a point."

She looked away snickering.

* * *

Claudia and Helena were at opposite isles of the Warehouse doing inventory. Claudia watched her out of the corner of her eye.

"If you have something to say..."

"I'm sorry that things didn't work out with Nick. But it's good to have you back."

Helena around and looked at Claudia. "I hope I don't still make you nervous."

Claudia laughed. "Nervous? I was never nervous."

"Myka said I wasn't being honest with myself. And maybe she was right." She smiled. "But it's fine. I'm fine. Nick is fine. At least I think he is."

"Right. Great."

"Has she said anything about me being back?"

"I don't think so. Why?"

Helena shook her head. "No reason."

"Fine. Don't tell me but I can keep a secret. Just ask Pete."

"Maybe some other time. It's just... everything is so different now. Where do we all go from here?"

"I wish I knew," Claudia said softly, thinking of Claire who was off somewhere talking to Mrs Fredrick.

* * *

Steve was at a restaurant eating a burger.


	2. Chapter 2

Guest: I don't know how much of this there will be. I didn't plan it out past that chapter.

I love Janto: everyone is too scared to. He would.

Arya-dragonlover: thanks for the fave.

LostinalittleWonderland: thanks for the fave and alert.

glennfp: thanks for the fave and alert.

lanatochylina: thanks for the alert.

It's 2014 in this story because that's when the series ended. I hope someone was interested in knowing that.

* * *

Joshua pulled out the chair at Steve's table. Steve didn't think he had even heard him enter the restaurant. Joshua looked harried, bags under his eyes, hair sticking up and it looked like he had fallen asleep in his clothes. Joshua more fell back into the chair than sat down.

"Sorry, I'm late. I should have left the bed and breakfast earlier. I just..." _Hadn't wanted to leave. Not when Claudia needed me, not when they might call me and tell me the meeting with Claire is done_. In the end Claudia had practically thrown him out, maybe if she was stronger she would have carried him out. She had a makeshift family there, he tried to comfort himself in the thought that she wasn't alone.

"It's fine. You should try the pie."

Joshua smiled. It looked more like a grimace. He picked up a menu but didn't look at it. "I'll have what he's having," he said when a waitress came by to take his order.

"Any drinks?"

"Just a glass of water."

She smiled. "Coming right up."

He put the menu down when she left. "So uh, Steve... or do you prefer Jinks?"

"Either is fine."

"What do you usually do around here?"

"I don't usually go to town very often," Steve said. "The pings keep all of us busy." He quickly realized that Joshua didn't know what the pings were and added "I mean the missions. But I can show you around later."

"Okay." He should be back at the B&B, waiting on the steps for Claire to show up. Claudia could be doing that with him if she wasn't put on inventory. Not that he wanted her to be on the front steps all day but wasn't this the time for a day off? With everything finally so quiet why were Steve and him the only ones taking a break? But it wasn't fair to put all of that on Steve so he just smiled at him. _I need so much therapy._

Steve smiled back. "We could see a movie or something. I hope something decent is playing."

"I don't think I could concentrate on one right now." Even if he could he didn't want to get a phone call about Claire in the middle of a movie and have to navigate his way out in the dark.

"Just walk around the town then?"

"Sure." The waitress came by again to give Joshua his glass of water.

"The burger will just be a few more minutes," she said.

"That's fine," Joshua replied.

"Let me know if you need anything." She walked away.

Joshua looked back at Steve. "Thanks for inviting me out."

"Uh- no problem. I've been looking forward to meeting you actually. Finally knowing all of the Donovan siblings."

Joshua smiled and it felt real this time. To be honest he'd always wanted to meet Claudia's best friend. "I hope we don't disappoint."

* * *

Claire didn't see anything out of the tinted windows. She was blind folded before she entered the building and Mrs Fredrick's words did nothing to calm her bounding heart.

"It's just for security purposes. You get to take it take off inside." Claire heard the door open and she was got out of the car.

"If it's that secret shouldn't you have driven us here?" She stretched her arms out, feeling unbalanced without her sight.

"I assure you that my driver has full security clearance. Now come along." How had she gotten next to her so fast? "The building is on the other side of the car."

Claire giggled. She didn't know why that was funny.

She followed after, listening to Mrs Fredrick's heels hit the ground as they walked. She had to wait for Mrs Fredrick's knock to be answered once there, then for the door to be opened. The whole thing took forever. At least once inside Mrs Fredrick kept her word and let Claire take the blind fold off.

The man who had opened the door walked them down a long hallway. "We've been waiting for you two."

"We came as quickly as we could," Mrs Fredrick said.

The man opened the door and took at the far end of the table. Claire sat down at the other end and looked up at Mrs Fredrick.

"I'll wait outside," she said.

They had gone this far together, Claire had thought that Mrs Fredrick would be part of the interview. "Can you get a message to Claudia and Joshua?" Claire asked. She didn't have a cellphone yet but Mrs Fredrick must at least have a farnsworth with her. "Tell them I'm fine. I'll be back as soon as I can."

"I'll do that."

Claire turned back to the group of people when Mrs Fredrick was gone. There were four, two women and two men.

"Miss Donovan," one of the men begins. "I'm sure you can appreciate the uniqueness of your case." Her case? Well that was one way to refer to everything. "The agents have all submitted their reports but we want to hear your recount of the events."

"Where do you want me to start?"

* * *

Joshua checked his phone. "Message from Claudia. She says Mrs Fredrick said Claire is fine and will be back as soon as she can." He smiled, from ear to ear.

Steve smiled back. "That's great."

"Yeah." He looked at his half eaten burger. If Artie had told him about Claire, if Claudia had told him about her there must have been something that he could have done. Why had no one told him? "I know I saw her at breakfast but it feels like she's been gone the entire day."

"I used to wait on the steps for my older sister to come home from school. I know it's not the same thing but back then I thought it would take forever for her to show up."

"Claudia used to be jealous that Claire and I got to go to school when she didn't. Then when she did go, it was obvious that she was miles ahead of everyone else."

* * *

"I don't know how I didn't realize it before." Myka laid down on her bed with Pete beside her. "I don't know what to do. But we can't stay here all day."

"I am getting hungry."

"You just ate. Don't leave the wrapper in my room." She sat up. "Might as well head down."

Pete followed her out of the room and down the stairs.

"Myka! Pete!"

She had thought that she would have more time before seeing Helena. She turned and saw Helena and Claudia. "Hey."

"We thought we'd go out for lunch," Helena said. "We lost track of time doing inventory. I swear it took longer than it used to. Do you two want to join us?"

"I'll come," Pete said.

"No, thank you," Myka said. "I think I'll lounge here for a while."

"Are you sure Mykes?" Pete asked.

"Yeah."

"Maybe some other time," Helena said. "I've barely seen you lately."

"Some other time," Myka agreed. She couldn't help feeling guilty, regardless of her feelings Helena was her friend. She couldn't and really didn't want to avoid her forever. But she needed to work out what she would say, if she said anything at all.

"You can the rest of the pizza I left in the fridge," Pete offered.

"Thanks," Myka said.

"We'll bring you back a burger or something," Claudia said.

"That sounds good," Myka said. She watched them leave. Pete looked back at her and she gave him a thumbs up.

Myka made her way to the kitchen after they left. There was no reason to have to do this on an empty stomach.

* * *

I think most of the named regents are dead, so I'm not sure what to call the regents who interviewed her. I know there was no meeting with the regents when Joshua came back, but Claire went through even more than he did and there's time travel in her case.

I don't know if I'm keeping Joshua or Steve in character.


	3. Chapter 3

I love Janto: they'll know what will happen to Claire soon enough. I can appreciate Pete's love for food. Mrs Frederic does have to be careful.

* * *

Myka took the pizza out of the microwave. She took a bite from a slice. "Ah, hot!" Myka went over to the kitchen table and set the plate of pizza slices down.

She sat down and thought about telling Helena how she felt. _Maybe telling her would be selfish. There's going to be so much stress anyway with Claire adjusting to her new life. If I tell Helena and our friendship suffers for it, everyone else is going to notice the change._ _Besides could I make her happier than Nick and his little girl had? Would she even have come back if that had worked out?_

Myka wondered what she would even say. _I think I'm in love with you. I know it's selfish but leaving you with Nick broke my heart. How could I say that?_ Mkya put her face into her hands.

"Why is this so hard?" she asked, already knowing the reasons. _Maybe I should have gone with them after all. I can't avoid Helena forever anyway, whether or not I decide to tell her._

* * *

Joshua and Steve had discussed their sisters over lunch, trading stories and having a few laughs. Joshua had confided that he didn't know why he was so scared for Claire, he just was and he felt like Steve had understood. They had both ordered a slice of pie.

"I wish I hadn't left the Warehouse," Joshua said. "Claire really needs her family right now."

"You had your own life to get on with," Steve said. "You couldn't have planned for this."

"Claudia practically kicked me out. I get where she was coming from but sometimes I wonder if we had known at the time what would have happened." Joshua picked at his pie. "Sorry, I'm always this much of a downer."

"It's fine," Steve said. "I'm all ears." He wished that Abigail was around right now. She would know what to say to Joshua. Joshua could definitely use some therapy, they all could.

After lunch Steve had shown Joshua around like he had said he was going to. During that time they bumped into Claudia, Pete and H.G.

"Hey Josh, Jinks," Claudia said. "We're just going to grab some lunch."

"We'd join you but we just ate," Joshua said. "Hey Pete, H.G."

"Hey you guys," Pete said.

"Hey everyone," Steve said. "I was beginning to think you guys were going to spend all day in the Warehouse."

"Hello boys," Helena replied. "Well we nearly did."

"How was your day together?" Claudia asked. "Did you guys have fun?"

Joshua smiled. "We did actually."

"Well we'd hate to keep you," Steve said. "See you guys back at the Warehouse."

"Don't be out too late!" Claudia joked before walking away.

* * *

"Then I was back to myself. It was such a relief. I never meant to hurt anyone. I'd fight Valda myself if he was still alive." That he had used her against Claudia made her skin crawl. If she had only listened to Claudia about the music box, none of this would have ever happened.

One of the female regents leaned over, folding her arms on the table. "The real question now Miss Donovan is your options now that your back. Given that you've already had personal experience with artefacts and the fact that you can take over for your sister as caretaker should she die we think that you should stay in the Warehouse as an agent."

"An agent?" She wouldn't have thought that was possible. She wasn't secret service, or ATF or a super genius like Claudia.

"You'll be trained of course. There will be a trail run to see how you do as an agent. But we do also have the resources to help you find a job elsewhere if you so desire and you can stay in the Warehouse. We will handle creating the necessary paperwork you need to continue life after being in a coma for so long."

"An agent." Claire cleared her throat. "I want to become an agent." She didn't want to work some boring job or stay around the house all day while her little sister was getting herself into danger. At least this way she could keep a closer eye on her, maybe even get Claudia to be the one to train her.

"Are you sure? This decision isn't to be taken lightly."

Claire nodded. "I'm ready to start right away."

The regents exchanged looks. "Send Mrs Fredric in on your way out," one of the male regents said.

"Yes sir." Claire swallowed her disappointment. She had hoped to be leave right after the meeting was over so she could meet up with Claudia and Joshua. They had so much to talk about and Joshua was going to be heading back overseas. Claire got up and walked towards the door.

When she got outside Mrs Fredric was waiting just where Claire had left her. Claire wondered how Mrs Fredric wasn't dying in the desert heat, at least an hour from when they first got here had to have passed. Why hadn't she waited inside the car with the driver? Did Warehouse caretakers not get bothered by the heat or was Mrs Fredric just like that?

"They want to see you."

"This won't take long. Go wait in the car."

Hearing Mrs Fredric say that made Claire feel like a child again. Doing just what Mrs Fredric asked didn't help with the feeling. But there was no reason to argue the point. It wasn't like she could leave without her and she couldn't stand to stay outside either. The inside of the building had been much cooler, making being back in the desert heat all that much worse.

"Have you worked for Mrs Fredric for a long time?" Claire asked the driver. When he didn't answer, Claire leaned back into her seat with a sigh. She looked out of the window, even though it was tinted and there was no way she'd see Mrs Fredric once she got back.

* * *

Myka was the only one still there when Claire came back with Mrs Fredric. They waited for everyone else in the kitchen. Claire made herself some scrambled eggs. Claire wanted to tell Myka the news and it out of the way but she couldn't tell her before she told Claudia and Joshua. Mrs Fredric had contacted Claudia using the Farnsworth on the drive to the Warehouse. The others were going to be back soon.

Claire had finished her eggs by the time Claudia and Joshua ran into the kitchen, followed closely by Pete, Steve and Helena.

"I'm going to be a Warehouse agent," Claire announced.


End file.
